Your Daily Blazer: Brandon Roy Knee Injury Edition

The good: last night's impressive 100-78 victory over the lowly Detroit Pistons, the reemergence of Rudy Fernandez, LaMarcus Aldridge nearly achieving career a high in rebounds, and Nicolas Batum establishing himself as a viable offensive option (not just the French kid who stands in the corner and shots only when told to).

Like black lung to coalminers—okay, that was a bit dramatic—knee injuries have become the expected ailment for any/all Blazers player. Roy's mysterious knee affliction is the third knee injury of the season for Portland—the very same season that is all of nine games long. Couple that with the fact that two players—Joel Przybilla and Greg Oden—are still rehabilitating their surgically repaired knees from last season, and you have an idea of how bad things have gotten for Portland.

Roy played limited minutes last night, and was perched on the bench with his leg wrapped with a heat treatment (initial reports say it was an ice treatment, but it might as well have been bubblewrap). While it's not the same knee that put Roy on the operating table late last season, it has been drained twice already and a full diagnosis is still pending. But before we form a knee ligament cadaver farm—you're not a real Blazers fan unless you donate your valuable knee cartilage to the players—it should be noted that Roy is still capable of playing. He's lost his step a bit, and is minutes are limited, but he's still can lead this team. Sort of.